Learn more about black history

I finally finished the book ‘Creating Black Americans: African-American History and its Meanings, 1619 to the Present’ by Nell Irvin Painter. I can sum up my opinion of the book by saying this is the most important history book I have ever read! This is 392 pages(without notes and references) of essential information about the experience and history of Black people in the United States from the very first time our people set foot in the country. If there was any important figure you wanted to know about that person is mentioned in this book, including Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, Fannie Lou Hamer, Crispus Attucks, Phyllis Wheatley, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Mary McLeod Bethune, Elderidge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis, Abu-Jamal Mumia, and so many others who’s names you have probably heard before. I have heard many of the names before but I did not know what the person did or why I should know about them. I am so glad I know who these people are now! Never let anyone tell you African Americans have never achieved anything, we have no role models, or we have no heroes. These people are my heroes! The book showed me how strong our people are and how much they had to fight, survive, and overcome. I swear, African people have had to overcome more than anyone on earth! I am so proud of these people and I know that their struggles, sacrifices, and deaths have made my life possible!

If there is any historical event you want to know about, it is in this book. Creating Black Americans is actually a text book. It has 15 chapters including an Epilogue, timelines at the end of each chapter, and discussion questions to think about. It covers our beginnings in Africa, the TransAtlantic Slave Trade, the Civil War and Emancipation, Reconstruction, Segregation, the Harlem Renaissance, The World Wars, The Civil Rights Era, Black Power, and the Hip Hop Era. I think that this is a book that should be in the home of every Black family around the world. It is something that I would like to have for my future children. I hope to add similar books about Africa and the Caribbean to my collection.

One ingenious feature of the book is that Nell Irvin Painter included African American art to illustrate the book. Each piece reflected on a historical event, important person, or feeling created by an African American artist. This is the first book I have ever read that had information about African-American art! The art is beautiful and it includes, paintings, sculptures, collages, quilts and even poetry! Some of the art is realistic but a lot of it is abstract and full of emotion. I made a point to take my time looking at the art pieces to really appreciate them. This is an ideal choice for an African American history book because it is a lesson in history that includes art history!

I found this book in my university library. For the past couple of years I have been going into the African and African American history sections and just walking around, looking at the books. If I saw something I liked I would sign it out. I never did keyword searches for a topic or book, I just looked until I found something. That way I got to know the different topics and sections where I would like to learn more. I saw Creating Black Americans and the cover was new and it was a recent book from 2007. I’m so glad I found it because it was the foundation for African American history that I really needed. I have read other things, but I wanted something general that covered EVERYTHING not just particular parts of the history. This book gave me that. In the future I’m going to buy a copy and read it again. Reading this book was like taking an African American history class!

What I have to say to Nell Irvin Painter is that I am so glad that there are educated people like her who took the time to pass on this knowledge to the world. Her book in written in such a way that someone with a highschool education could understand it and the art is a brilliant touch! It was truly a gift to read this book and if I were Dr. Painter I would feel I really did something wonderful! I want to thank her for teaching me about the history of my people. I feel more complete now. I realize that NONE of this information was taught to me in history class in Canada. I didn’t learn anything about Black people at school. I didn’t really understand who I was until I finished reading this book! This is a must read for everyone because African American history IS HISTORY and should be a part of every American and world history program. Thank you Dr. Painter for spreading the knowledge and lifting the ignorance from my eyes!

I have given up on finishing “Forgotten Africa: An Introduction to its Archaeology” by Graham Connah. I chose this book from the library because I wanted an introductory book about Africa. There were other books int he library, some were multi-volume references, and some were too old. I liked this one because it was an introduction and it was only 179 pages of reading. But it starts from the time of cave men and the whole thing is based on artifacts. Its not really about people. I found it hard to keep the dates straight. It wasn’t about historical events at all. So I read 101 pages and then decided I wanted to read something else. So if you want to learn something about African history, I don’t think it will help to read from an archeological perspective. Its really boring and not what I wanted. I guess someone studying archeology would love it.

I have finished reading “African Philosophy: An Anthology” by Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze. I chose this book from the library because I wanted to know about African philosophical thought. I didn’t read the whole book though. Some of the chapeters were about things like Igbo and Akan philosophy and actually, I gave up on those chapters. Philosophy is hard to understand and I found the new terms and concepts to be very confusing. Its hard to think differently about the world and thats what it takes to understand philosophy. So I gave up on reading those chapters. I also skipped over the ones about religion because I’m not religious. I read other chapters about politics, society, colonialism, race, gender, and slavery.

I feel bad that I gave up on the actual readings about actual philosophies and writings about ethics and science, but it was just taking me a long time to read and it was frustrating me. I wanted to read something else. The chapters that I read were fantastic on a wide range of philosophical thought. I think on the book cover it says that this is the most comprehensive book of African philosophy around and some people don’t even believe there is such a thing as African philosophy. But philosophy is what is produced when someone asks questions about the world and life and comes up with explanations for things. Every culture in the world has its own philosophies. It was a good book and I wished I had read more of it.

I was checking out the African American history section of the library again (I love just walking around there and looking at all the books I want to read) when I found THE BOOK I have been looking for! It called ‘Creating Black Americans: African-American History and its Meanings, 1619 to the Present” by Nell Irvin Painter! Its a really new book published in 2007. I just wanted one really good introductory history book so that I could get a good overview of Black history (in America) and I have found it. It is full of African-American art and has chapters beginning in Africa, to the transatlantic slave trade, reconstruction, segregation, the world wars, the civil rights movement, to the era of hip-hop. Its actually a text book that has time-lines and study questions at the end of each chapter.

Prior to finding this book, everything I have read has been an anthology of writings, or books about a particular time period, subject, philosophy, or ideology. This is the first general text. Amazing! I want to read a text like this about Africa but the African-American book spans 400 years, one about Africa would span 20,000. I have a book on Forgotten Africa that I am finishing up, but its from an archeological viewpoint and it actually begins with cavemen 20,000 years ago. Its not very interesting because its based on artifacts not actual people. I hope I can find a similar text about Africa and then I will have a fantastic background in Black history!

I have finished reading the book “An Afrocentric Manifesto” by Molefi Kete Asante. This is a great book and its not too long either. It explains that Afrocentricity is not an African version of Eurocentrism. Afrocentricity is “a consciousness, quality of thought, mode of analysis, and an actionable perspective where Africans seek, from agency, to assert subject place within the context of African history” (p. 16). So instead of teaching, writing, or learning about African history and behaviour from the point of view of the European, it is from the point of view of the African where they are the active agents. It really is different from how most of us learned history because most of the world, even African students, learn about African people often from the European point of view. Its related to Africana Studies and Pan-African teachings.

This was an important book for me to read. Now I know that its not a good idea to read just any book about Africa, I will look for one that is Afrocentric. Most of the books I have read have been Afrocentric anyway so I’m glad.

I finished reading “The Racism of Psychology” by Dennis Howitt and J. Owusu-Bempah quite a while ago but I didn’t get around to writing about it until now. Basically, many disciplines based out of Europe, or by Europeans may have overt or subtle racism in it. There is such a thing as racism of omission and thats what frequently happens when psychological views from non-Western countries are ignored. This book is a must read for psychologists and psychology professors. I realize now that because of my Western education I could actually harm people by viewing them from those standards. I might read this again before I graduate or purchase the book so that I never forget what I read.

I watched some documentaries for Black History Month. There is still a book I need to finish and I have to add one I completed to this list. I’m always learning and I think doing this has made me a different person.

Kudos who began this goal.

This is my life mission.

Learning is a way of thriving espeically when you know you own history.

For me, I have read many biographies and autobiographies of individuals who have inspired the world and others. One of my favorite biographies was on Paul Robeson who was an African American entertainer, activist and social agitator. He definitely lived the American dream and I hope more African Americans learn of his contributions for social justice for all.

I signed up for a YouTube account! Then I searched for African, African American, and Black history films. There are so many short films and tributes on YouTube it is really amazing! I can share the videos with my friends! Check out my page :)
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BronzeTrinity

I signed up for the Pageflakes newsreader. Then I subscribed to all of the African American blogs I like. I have a column for entertainment and beauty, one for opinion and politics sites, and another column for humour and personal blogs. Now whenever I want to know what is going on or whenever I want some entertainment I can just go to my page. Its like deciding what news and news sources you like and only choosing to read them, instead of letting someone else choose for you. I love it so much! Cable news is a thing of the past for me!